L-sorbose dehydrogenase and novel L-sorbosone dehydrogenase obtained from gluconobacter oxydans T-100

ABSTRACT

A novel L-sorbose dehydrogenase (SDH) and a novel L-sorbosone dehydrogenase both derived from Gluconobacter oxydans T-100, a DNA which encodes the SDH and/or SNDH, an expression vector which contains the DNA, a host cell transformed by the expression vector and a process for producing the SDH and/or SNDH, which comprises culturing the host cell in a medium and recovering the SDH and/or SNDH from the resulting culture. The SDH and SNDH of the present invention are useful enzymes having preferable properties for the production of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid, as well as L-ascorbic acid. According to the production method of the present invention, the SDH and SNDH having such preferable properties can be produced in large amounts by genetic engineering.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a novel L-sorbose dehydrogenase (hereinafter referred to as SDH) and a novel L-sorbosone dehydrogenase (hereinafter referred to as SNDH) both derived from Gluconobacter Oxydans T-100. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel SDH, a novel SNDH, a DNA encoding same, an expression vector containing said DNA, a host cell transformed (transfected) with said expression vector, and the production of the SDH and SNDH by culturing the host cell.

The SDH and SNDH of the present invention are enzymes useful for producing 2-keto-L-gulonic acid.

BACKGROUND ART

2-Keto-L-gulonic acid (hereinafter referred to as 2KLGA) is a key intermediate in the synthesis of L-ascorbic acid. For industrial production, 2KLGA is chemically synthesized from L-sorbose by oxidation according to the Reichstein's method.

On the other hand, it is well known that many microorganisms have an ability to convert L-sorbose to 2KLGA through a two-step enzymatic oxidation by SDH and SNDH. Namely, SDH catalyzes the oxidation of L-sorbose to L-sorbosone, and SNDH catalyzes the oxidation of L-sorbosone to 2KLGA. However, because of the low productivity of 2KLGA obtained by using these microorganisms, they have not been applied to the industrial production yet.

It is desirable to provide efficient and simplified methods for the production of 2KLGA.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In an attempt to accomplish the above-mentioned objects, the inventors of this invention conducted intensive studies to find an SDH and an SNDH having preferable properties, and succeeded in producing a novel SDH and a novel SNDH having desirable properties for producing 2KLGA and developed the studies, which resulted in the completion of the present invention.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a novel SDH derived from Gluconobacter oxydans T-100 (FERM BP-4188), which is characterized by:

(1) an ability to catalyze the conversion of L-sorbose into L-sorbosone,

(2) a molecular weight of 58,000 dalton (SDS-PAGE), and

(3) an N-terminal amino acid sequence of

Thr-Ser-Gly-Phe-Asp-Tyr-Ile-Val-Val-Gly-Gly-Gly-Ser-Ala (SEQ ID NO: 5).

Further, the present invention relates to an SDH having an amino acid sequence shown in the Sequence Listing, Sequence No. 1 to be mentioned later.

The present invention also relates to a novel SNDH derived from Gluconobacter oxydans T-100, which is characterized by:

(1) an ability to catalyze the conversion of L-sorbosone into 2KLGA,

(2) a molecular weight of 50,000 dalton (SDS-PAGE), and

(3) an N-terminal amino acid sequence of

Asn-Val-Val-Ser-Lys-Thr-Val-Xaa-Leu (Xaa being an unidentified amino acid)SEQ ID NO: 6. The present invention further relates to an SNDH having an amino acid sequence shown in the Sequence Listing, Sequence No. 2.

The present invention also relates to a DNA which encodes the above-mentioned SDH and/or SNDH, an expression vector which contains said DNA, a host cell transformed (transfected) by said expression vector and a process for producing the SDH and/or SNDH, which comprises culturing said host cell (transformant) in a medium and recovering the SDH and/or SNDH from the resulting culture.

The Gluconobacter oxydans T-100 to be used in the present invention is a 2KLGA-high-producing mutant derived from Gluconobacter oxydans G716 (wild strain) by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG) mutagenesis in a conventional manner.

The Gluconobacter oxydans G716 was isolated from a persimmon, and has the following morphological and physiological properties. The method described in Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology Vol. 1 (1984) and the method described in Manual for Identification to Medical Bacteria (S. T. Cowan, 2nd. Edition, 1985) were principally employed for the taxonomic study.

1. Morphological Properties

The Gluconobacter oxydans G716 is a Gram-negative, motile bacterium. The cell shapes are rod, occurring both singly and in pairs, and rarely in chains.

    ______________________________________                                         Morphological characteristics of Gluconobacter oxydans G716                    ______________________________________                                         Gram stain          negative                                                   color of colony     pale                                                       spore               negative                                                   cell shape          rod                                                        motility            positive                                                   flagella            3-8 polar flagella                                         ______________________________________                                    

2. Physiological Characteristics

Physiological characteristics of the Gluconobacter oxydans G716 are summarized in the following table.

    ______________________________________                                         Physiological characteristics of Gluconobacter oxydans G716                    Conditions       Characteristics                                               ______________________________________                                         growth in air    +                                                             at 4° C.  -                                                             at 22° C. +                                                             at 30° C. +                                                             at 40° C. -                                                             catalase         +                                                             oxidase          -                                                             gelatin liquefaction                                                                            -                                                             nitrate reduction                                                                               -                                                             aesuclin hydrolysis                                                                             -                                                             acid formation                                                                 L-arabinose      +                                                             D-cellobiose     +                                                             Dulcitol         +                                                             D-galactose      +                                                             D-glucose        +                                                             glycerol         +                                                             D-mannitol       +                                                             D-mannose        +                                                             D-xylose         +                                                             D-lactose        -                                                             maltose          -                                                             D-raffinose      -                                                             rhamnose         -                                                             D-sorbitol       -                                                             sucrose          -                                                             D-trehalose      -                                                             mol % G + C of the DNA                                                                          60.0                                                          Ubiquinone       Q10                                                           ______________________________________                                    

The organism is aerobic, showing no growth under anaerobic conditions. Optimum temperature is 22° to 30° C., showing no growth at 40° C. and 4° C. The best medium for growth is SY medium that is composed of 2.5% sorbitol and 0.5% yeast extract (pH 6.4). Strong ketogenesis occurs from glucose and glycerol.

The Gluconobacter oxydans T-100 to be used in the present invention has the morphological and physiological properties identical to those of Gluconobacter oxydans G716.

The new SDH and new SNDH of the present invention can be prepared by recombinant DNA technology, polypeptide synthesis and the like.

In case where recombinant DNA technology is employed, the new SDH and/or new SNDH can be prepared by culturing a host cell transformed (transfected) with an expression vector containing a DNA encoding the amino acid sequence of the new SDH and/or new SNDH in a nutrient medium and recovering the same from the obtained culture.

Particulars of this process are explained in more detail in the following.

The host cell includes, for example, microorganisms such as bacteria (e.g. Escherichia coli, Gluconobacter oxydans and Bacillus subtilis), yeast (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae), animal cell lines and cultured plant cells. Preferred examples of the microorganisms include bacteria, especially strains belonging to the genus Escherichia (e.g. E. coli JM109 ATCC 53323, E. coli NM538 ATCC 35638, E. coli HB101 ATCC 33694, E. coli HB101-16 FERM BP-1872 and E. coli 294 ATCC 31446) and the genus Bacillus (e.g. Bacillus subtilis ISW1214), yeast, especially strains belonging to the genus Saccharomyces (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae AH22), and animal cell lines e.g. mouse L929 cell and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell!.

When a bacterium, especially E. coli or Bacillus subtilis is used as a host cell, expression vector is usually composed of at least promoter, initiation codon, DNA encoding amino acid sequence(s) of the new SDH and/or new SNDH, termination codon, terminator region, and replicatable unit.

When a yeast or an animal cell is used as a host cell, the expression vector is preferably composed of at least promoter, initiation codon, DNA encoding amino acid sequences of signal peptide and the new SDH and/or new SNDH and termination codon, and it is possible that enhancer sequence, 5'-and 3'-noncoding region of the new SDH, 5'- and 3'-noncoding region of the new SNDH, splicing junctions, polyadenylation site and replicatable unit are also inserted.

The promoter for expressing the new SDH and/or new SNDH in bacteria comprises, for example, promoter and Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence (e.g. AAGG). Preferable promoters include, for example, conventionally employed promoters (e.g. PL-promoter and trp-promoter for E. coli) and promoter of the SNDH chromosomal gene.

The promoters for expressing the new SDH and/or new SNDH in yeast include, for example, the promoter of the TRP1 gene, the ADHI or ADHII gene, and acid phosphatase (PHO5) gene for S. cerevisiae.

The promoters for expressing the new SDH and/or new SNDH in mammalian cells include, for example, SV40 early or late-promoter, HTLV-LTR-promoter, mouse metallothionein I (MMT)-promoter and vaccinia-promoter.

Preferable initiation codon includes, for example, methionine codon (ATG).

The signal peptide includes, for example, signal peptides of other enzymes conventionally employed (e.g. signal peptide of the native t-PA and signal peptide of the native plasminogen).

The DNA encoding the signal peptide or the new SDH and/or new SNDH can be prepared in a conventional manner, such as a partial or whole DNA synthesis using DNA synthesizer and a method comprising preparing from Gluconobacter oxydans genomic DNA in a conventional manner such as PCR procedure or DNA probe procedure described in Molecular Cloning (mainly in Chapters 11 and 14, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989, USA).

The termination codon includes, for example, conventionally employed termination codons (e.g. TAG and TGA).

The terminator region includes, for example, natural or synthetic terminator (e.g. terminator of the new SDH chromosomal gene and synthetic fd phage terminator).

The replicatable unit is a DNA compound capable of replicating the whole DNA sequence belonging thereto in host cell, and may include natural plasmid, artificially modified plasmid (e.g. DNA fragment prepared from natural plasmid) and synthetic plasmid. In the present invention, the replicatable unit can be appropriately selected according to the microorganism to be used as a host cell. Preferable examples of the plasmid include plasmid pBR322 and artificially modified plasmid thereof (DNA fragment obtained from a suitable restriction enzyme treatment of pBR322) for E. coli, yeast 2μplasmid and yeast chromosomal DNA for yeast, plasmid pRSVneo ATCC 37198, plasmid pSV2dhfr ATCC 37145, plasmid pdBPV-MMTneo ATCC 37224 and plasmid pSV2neo ATCC 37149 for mammalian cells.

The enhancer sequence includes, for example, the enhancer sequence (72 b.p.) of SV40.

The polyadenylation site includes, for example, the polyadenylation site of SV40.

The splicing junction includes, for example, the splicing junction of SV40.

The promoter, initiation codon, DNA encoding amino acid sequence of the new SDH and/or new SNDH, termination codon(s) and terminator region can consecutively and circularly be linked with an adequate replicatable unit (plasmid), using, if desired, adequate DNA fragment(s) in a conventional manner (e.g. digestion with restriction enzyme, ligation using T4 DNA ligase) to give the expression vector of the present invention.

When mammalian cells are used as host cells, it is possible that enhancer sequence, promoter, 5'-noncoding region of the cDNA of the new SDH and/or new SNDH, initiation codon, DNA encoding the signal peptide, DNA encoding amino acid sequence(s) of the new SDH and/or new SNDH, termination codon(s), 3'-noncoding region of the cDNA of the new SDH and/or new SNDH, splicing junctions and polyadenylation site are consecutively and circularly linked with an adequate replicatable unit in the above manner to give an expression vector.

The transformant of the present invention can be prepared by introducing the expression vector obtained above into a host cell. Introduction of the expression vector into the host cell (transformation, hereinafter used as also meaning transfection) can be carried out in a conventional manner (e.g. Kushner method for E. coli, calcium phosphate method for mammalian cells and microinjection).

For the production of the new SDH and/or new SNDH by the process of this invention, the thus-obtained transformant containing the expression vector is cultured in an aqueous nutrient medium.

The nutrient medium to be used may contain carbon source(s) (e.g. glucose, glycerine, mannitol, fructose and lactose) and inorganic or organic nitrogen source(s) (e.g. ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, hydrolysate of casein, yeast extract, polypeptone, Bactotrypton and beef extract). If desired, other nutritious sources such as inorganic salts (e.g. sodium or potassium biphosphate, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate and calcium chloride), vitamins (e.g. vitamin B₁), and antibiotics (e.g. ampicillin, kanamycin) may be added to the medium. For the culture of mammalian cells, Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Minimum Essential Medium (DMEM) supplemented with fetal calf serum and antibiotic is often used.

The culture of the tranformant is usually carried out at pH 5.5-8.5 (preferably pH 7-7.5) and 18°-40° C. (preferably 20°-30° C.) for 5-50 hours.

When the thus-produced new SDH and/or new SNDH exist(s) in the culture solution, culture filtrate (supernatant) is obtained by filtration or centrifugation of the culture. The new SDH and/or new SNDH can be purified from the culture filtrate by a method generally employed for the purification and isolation of natural or synthetic proteins (e.g. dialysis, gel filtration, affinity column chromatography using anti-SDH monoclonal antibody or anti-SNDH monoclonal antibody, column chromatography on a suitable adsorbent and high performance liquid chromatography).

When the produced new SDH and/or new SNDH exist(s) in periplasm and cytoplasm of the cultured transformant, cells are collected by filtration and centrifugation, and the cell wall and/or cell membrane thereof are/is destroyed by, for example, treatment with supersonic waves and/or lysozyme to give debris. The debris can be dissolved in a suitable aqueous solution (e.g. 8M aqueous urea and 6M aqueous guanidium salt). From the solution, the new SDH and/or new SNDH can be purified in a conventional manner as exemplified above.

If it is necessary to refold the new SDH and/or new SNDH produced in E. coli by the method of the present invention, the refolding can be carried out in a conventional manner.

If the SDH activity and/or new SNDH activity exist(s) in the transformant, the following can be exemplified as the materials obtained by processing the culture (hereinafter the material is referred to as processed material).

(1) Raw cells: separated from the culture in a conventional manner such as filtration and centrifugation:

(2) dried cells: obtained by drying said raw cells of (1) above in a conventional manner such as lyophilization and vacuum drying;

(3) cell-free extract: obtained by destroying said raw cells of (1) above or dried cells of (2) above in a conventional manner (e.g. autolysis of the cells using an organic solvent, grinding the cells with alumina, sea sand etc., and treating the cells with supersonic waves);

(4) enzyme solution: obtained by purification or partial purification of said cell-free extracts of (3) above in a conventional manner (e.g. column chromatography); and

(5) immobilized cells or enzyme: prepared by immobilizing said raw cells of (1) above or dried cells of (2) above or the enzyme of (4) above in a conventional manner (e.g. a method using acrylamide, glass bead, ion exchange resin etc.).

If the SDH activity and/or new SNDH activity exist(s) in a culture filtrate of the transformant, the culture filtrate (supernatant), purified enzyme solution and immobilized enzymes can be exemplified as the processed materials of the culture.

The assay of the new SDH activity in crude mixture such as sonicated cell lysate or its processed material obtained in each purification step can be usually conducted according to T. SUGISAWA et al. (Agric. Biol. Chem., 55, 363-370, 1991) using L-sorbose as a substrate and 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (hereinafter referred to as DCIP) as an electron acceptor in phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). The enzyme activity is measured as the reduction rate of DCIP, which is determined by the decrease of absorbance at 600 nm. One enzyme unit is defined as the amount of the enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of 1 μmol DCIP per minute. Preferable pH of the reaction mixture, concentration of L-sorbose and DCIP, reaction time and reaction temperature may vary with the medium or its processed material to be used. Generally, the reaction is carried out at pH 7 to 10, preferably pH 8 to 9, at 5° to 50° C., preferably 20° to 45° C. for 0.5 to 24 hours.

The new SDH enzyme activity may be also assayed by determining the amount of the reaction product, L-sorbosone labelled with benzamidine hydrochloride, using post column high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescent detection (Ex. 315 nm, Em. 405 nm).

The activity of novel SNDH present in crude mixtures, such as ultrasonication cell lysate and treated substances obtained in respective purification steps, can be also assayed by a general method by SUGISAWA et al. (Agric. Biol. Chem., 55, 363-370, 1991). In this case, SNDH activity is assayed by measuring the amount of NADH produced using nicotinamido adenine dinucleotide (hereinafter referred to as NAD) as an electron acceptor and L-sorbosone as a substrate in phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), which is determined by the absorbance at 340 nm. One enzyme unit is defined as the amount of the enzyme that produces 1 μmol NADH per minute. Preferable pH of the reaction mixture, concentrations of L-sorbosone and NAD to be used, reaction time and reaction temperature may vary with a medium and processed materials to be used. Generally, the reaction is carried out at pH 7 to 10, preferably pH 8 to 9, at 5° to 50° C., preferably 20° to 45° C. for 0.5 to 24 hours.

The new SDH and new SNDH of the present invention are enzymes having preferable properties useful for producing 2KLGA, and therefor L-ascorbic acid. According to the present invention, the new SDH and new SNDH having such preferable properties can be produced in large amounts by genetic engineering.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a restriction enzyme map of pUC18SD180.

FIG. 2 is a restriction enzyme map of plasmid pUC19SD5 containing DNA encoding the novel SDH of the present invention and DNA encoding the novel SNDH of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows the construction of plasmid pUC19SD5.

The present invention is explained in more detail in the following. In the following Examples, plasmids, enzymes such as restriction enzyme, T4 DNA ligases, and other materials were obtained from commercial sources and used according to the indication by suppliers. Operations employed for the cloning of DNA, transformation of host cells, cultivation of transformants, recovery of the new SDH and/or new SNDH from the obtained culture, and the like are well known in the art or can be adapted from literatures.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to these Examples.

EXAMPLE 1 Purification of SDH from Gluconobacter oxydans T-100

(1) Microorganism Gluconobacter oxydans T-100 was selected as a 2KLGA-high-producing mutant derived from Gluconobacter oxydans G716 (wild strain) by nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis.

(2) Cultivation of Gluconobacter oxydans T-100

Single colonies of Gluconobacter oxydans T-100 were transferred into 6 independent culture media (100 ml each) consisting of 2.5% glucose, 1.0% polypeptone, 0.5% yeast extract (Difco Labs., USA) and 2.0% CaCO₃ in 500 ml Erlenmeyer flasks. The cultivation was performed at 30° C. on a rotary shaker (250 rpm) for 18 hours. The cultivated medium (total 600 ml) was inoculated to 20 liters of a fermentation medium containing 5% D-sorbitol, 0.5% glycerol, 0.5% yeast extract and 1.0% CaCO₃ in a 30 L jar. Cultivation was carried out at 30° C. for 42 hours under aeration at 20 liters/minute and agitation at 300 rpm. The cultivated broth (20 L) was centrifuged at 6,000 rpm at 4° C. for 10 minutes. The cells were washed once with cold saline and recentrifuged under the same conditions. The cells were stored at -20° C. until use.

(3) Preparation of the Membrane Fraction

Cells (17.7 g, wet weight) obtained in (2) were suspended in 50 ml of 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), disrupted by sonication, and centrifuged at 8,000 rpm at 4° C. for 10 min to give a supernatant. On the other hand, the resulting precipitates were suspended in 40 ml of 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), sonicated for disruption and centrifuged under the same conditions as above. The supernatants were pooled and ultracentrifuged at 32,000 rpm at 4° C. for one hour. The resulting precipitates were washed once with phosphate buffer (50 ml) and subjected to ultracentrifugation under the same conditions as above to give crude membrane proteins (membrane fraction).

(4) Solubilization of SDH from the Membrane Fraction

The membrane fraction obtained in (3) was suspended in 50 ml of 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). To the suspension, 0.75 ml of 20% Triton X-100 (Nacalai Tesque, Japan) and 1.8 g of L-sorbose were added, and the mixture was stirred on ice for 3.5 hours. The resultant suspension was ultracentrifuged at 32,000 rpm at 4° C. for one hour to give a supernatant (ca. 48 ml), designated as solubilized SDH fraction.

(5) Ion-exchange Chromatography

The solubilized fraction (16 ml) obtained in (4) was subjected to ion-exchange chromatography on a TSKgel DEAE-5PW column (7.5 mm inner diameter×75 mm, Toso Co. Ltd., Japan) equilibrated with 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 0.3% Triton X-100 and 200 mM L-sorbose. The column was eluted with a linear gradient of sodium chloride from 0M to 0.5M in an equilibration buffer. Enzyme activity was assayed according to T. SUGISAWA et al. (Agric. Biol. Chem., Vol. 55, 363-370, 1991) using L-sorbose as a substrate and 0.1 mM 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCIP) as an electron acceptor in 0.28M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). One enzyme unit was defined as the amount of the enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of 1 μmole DCIP per minute. The reduction of DCIP was determined by the decrease of absorbance at 600 nm with spectrophotometer (Model UV-160, Shimadzu, Japan). Active fractions were pooled, diluted 3-fold with 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), and applied to a DEAE-TOYOPEARL 650M column (7.0 mm inner diameter×17 mm, Toso Co. Ltd., Japan) equilibrated with 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). The column was eluted with 0.2M sodium chloride in an equilibration buffer. The resulting eluate was used for further purification steps.

(6) Gel-filtration Chromatography

A portion (300 μl) of the concentrated active fraction was subjected to gel-filtration chromatography on a Superose 12 HR10/30 column (10 mm inner diameter×30 cm, Pharmacia, Sweden) equilibrated with 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 0.3% Triton X-100, 200 mM L-sorbose and 0.2M sodium chloride. Elution was performed using the same buffer. Each fraction (0.4 ml) was analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS-PAGE, 12.5% gel) and by enzyme assay described in Example 1 (5). From the analysis of SDS-PAGE, SDH activity was found to correspond to 58 kd protein, suggesting that the 58 kd protein was the desired SDH molecule.

EXAMPLE 2 Amino Acid Sequence Analysis of SDH

The concentrated active fraction (15 μl) was subjected to SDS-PAGE (12.5% gel) and the separated proteins were blotted on a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane. The membrane containing 58 kd protein stained by ponceau S was cut out and washed with distilled water. The membrane piece was directly sequenced with an automated protein sequencer Model 470A (Applied Biosystems Inc., USA) for N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis.

To determine the internal amino acid sequence, fragmentation with achromobacter protease I (Wako Chemical, Japan) was carried out on the surface of the membrane. The fragments obtained were eluted with 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 9.0) containing 8% acetonitrile, and separated by reversed phase chromatography using Cosmosil 5C4-300 (4.6 mm inner diameter×50 mm, Nacalai Tesque, Japan) with a linear gradient elution (75 min) of acetonitrile of from 8% to 83% in 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid. Two kinds of peptides (Peptide 1 and Peptide 2) were isolated, and sequenced with an automated protein sequencer Model 470A for amino acid sequence identification. The resultant data are shown in Table 1 (SEQ ID NO: 5,7,8).

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         NH.sub.2 -terminal sequence                                                                      TSGFDYIVVGGGSA                                               Peptide 1         MTTGPHTWDLLTEPQK                                             Peptide 2         LMMLSGVGPA                                                   ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 3 Preparation of DNA Probe

(1) Synthesis of DNA Oligomers

Each oligonucleotide listed in Table 2 below was synthesized by phospho amidite method using DNA synthesizer model 392 (Applied Biosystems Inc., USA). The synthesized oligonucleotide was liberated from CPG polymer support (CPG: controlled pore glass) with 28% aqueous ammonia, followed by heating at 60° C. for 9 hours to remove all protective groups. The reaction mixture was evaporated in vacuo, and the residue was dissolved in 200 μl of TE 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.4)-1 mM EDTA!. The resulting solution was washed once with ether and precipitated with ethanol. The obtained oligonucleotides were used as primers for polymerase chain reaction without further purification(SEQ ID NO: 9,10).

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                         Oligonucleotide encoding NH.sub.2 -terminal sequence (forward primer)          5' > ACC (TA)(GC)C GGC TT(TC) GA(TC) TA(TC) AT(TCA) GT < 3'                    Oligonucleotide encoding internal sequence (reverse primer)                    5' > TC CCA (ATCG)GT (AG)TG (ATCG)GG (ATCG)CC < 3'                             ______________________________________                                    

(2) Preparation of Chromosomal DNA

A single colony of Gluconobacter oxydans T-100 was cultivated in a medium (100 ml) consisting of 2% glucose, 1% polypeptone and 0.5% yeast extract at 37° C. for 24 hours. The cells were collected by centrifugation (4,600 rpm, 10 min) and suspended in TE buffer (2.5 ml). A portion (2.0 ml) of the suspension was diluted with 20 ml of STE buffer 20% sucrose-50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8)-1 mM EDTA!, mixed with 5 ml of lysozyme solution (5 mg/ml), and incubated at 37° C. for 30 min. Sarcosil solution 1% lauroyl sarcosilate-100 mM EDTA (pH 9.0)! (50 ml) and proteinase K (40 mg) were added, and the mixture was incubated at 50° C. for 1.5 hours. Cesium chloride (93.8 g) and 6 ml of ethidium bromide (5 mg/ml) were dissolved in 75 ml of said mixture, and the cesium chloride solution was ultracentrifuged at 50,000 rpm at 20° C. for 14 hours. The portion containing chromosomal DNA was isolated, washed twice with isopropyl alcohol saturated with physiological saline, and dialyzed against TE buffer (2 L) for 4 hours. The dialysate was extracted with phenol (20 ml), and dialyzed twice against TE buffer (2 L) to give the desired chromosomal DNA solution (14 ml, 91.5 μg/ml).

(3) Polymerase Chain Reaction

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out with 180 ng of Gluconobacter oxydans T-100 chromosomal DNA and 2.5 pmoles of each primer of Table 2, using Hybaid thermal reactor Model HB-TR1 (Hybaid Limited, UK). The reaction mixture 200 μM dNTPs each and 2.5 units Taq DNA polymerase in PCR buffer (Perkin Elmer-Cetus, USA)! was subjected to 50 cycles of PCR, each consisting of 0.5 min of denaturation at 95° C., 1 min of annealing at 42° C. and 2 min of polymerization at 72° C. A single fragment was obtained by PCR. The DNA fragment (180 bp) supposedly coding for a part of the SDH gene was isolated by 1.5% agarose gel-electrophoresis and filled with DNA polymerase Klenow fragment (Takara Shuzo, Japan) to give a blunt-ended DNA. The resultant DNA and pUC18 previously digested with SmaI (Nippon Gene, Japan) were ligated in the presence of T4 DNA ligase (Takara Shuzo, Japan). The ligation mixture was used to transform E. coli JM109 (Nippon Gene, Japan) according to the procedure of SHIGESADA et al. (Saibo-kogaku, 2, 616-626, 1983). From one of the transformants, the desired plasmid pUC18SD180 (see FIG. 1) was obtained and characterized by restriction mapping.

(4) Preparation of the ³² P-labelled Probe

The insert DNA (ca. 200 bp) was isolated by digestion of pUC18SD180 with BamHI and EcoRI (Nippon Gene, Japan). The ca. 200 bp DNA was purified by 0.5% agarose gel-electrophoresis. Purified DNA was ³² P-labelled with nick translation kit (Takara Shuzo, Japan) according to the appended protocols. The specific activity of DNA labelled with ³² P was about 3.7×10⁷ cpm/μg.

EXAMPLE 4 Isolation of SDH Gene from Gluconobacter oxydans T-100 DNA Library

(1) Preparation of Chromosomal DNA Library

The genomic DNA obtained in Example 3 (2) was partially digested with MboI (Nippon Gene, Japan) and the fragments were separated on a sucrose gradient to produce a fragment with a size range of from 8 kbp to 22 kbp before cloning into the BamHI site of lambda phage vector EMBL-3 (Clonetech). This lambda phage vector was introduced into E. coli NM538 (Clonetech) to construct Gluconobacter T-100 chromosomal DNA library.

(2) Plaque Hybridization

Preparation of lambda phage plaques with E. coli NM538 (Clonetech) as a plating bacterium and immobilization of the plaques on the nitrocellulose filter were carried out according to the protocols described in Molecular Cloning vol. 1, Chapter 2, page 108, 1989, USA. The filters containing the lambda DNA were incubated in a hybridization buffer (50% formamide-1% bovine serum albumin-0.1% polyvinyl pyrrolidone-0.1% ficoll-5×SSPE (see Molecular Cloning)-0.1% SDS-100 μg/ml salmon sperm DNA) at 42° C. for 4 hours, in the same buffer but containing ³² P-labelled probe (ca. 200 bp, ca. 1×10⁷ cpm/ml) at 42° C. for 18 hours and in 2×SSC (see Molecular Cloning) containing 0.05% SDS at 42° C. successively to remove the excess probe. The filters were exposed to an X-ray film HR-H (Fuji Film, Japan) at -80° C. for 18 hours. As a result of the first screening of lambda phage library, about 30 positive phages were obtained from 72,000 plaques.

(3) Southern Blotting

One of the positive phage DNAs was digested with EcoRI and SalI (Nippon Gene, Japan) and subjected to 0.8% agarose gel electrophoresis. The DNA fragments separated on the gel were transferred onto a nitrocellulose filter by electroblotting. Approximately 6 kbp DNA fragment was identified to hybridize the ³² P-labelled probe. It was cloned into between the EcoRI site and SalI site of pUC19 (Nippon Gene, Japan) to give pUC19SD5 (FIG. 2).

EXAMPLE 5 DNA Sequence Analysis of SDH Gene

(1) Construction of the Plasmids for DNA Sequencing

Construction of Plasmid pSD5RRV

pUC19SD5 was digested with EcoRV (Toyobo, Japan). From among the three bands separated by 1.5% agarose gel-electrophoresis, 1.1 kbp DNA which hybridizes the ³² P-labelled probe was isolated and cloned into the SmaI site of pUC18 to give the plasmid pSD5RRV.

(2) Construction of Plasmid pSD5RVS

pUC19SD5 was digested with EcoRV and Eco47III (Toyobo, Japan). The large DNA (ca. 5,700 bp) was isolated and self-ligated with T4 DNA ligase (Takara Shuzo, Japan) to give the plasmid pSD5RVS.

(3) DNA Sequence Analysis

DNA sequence analysis of the template DNA (pSD5RRV and pSD5RVS) was performed by dideoxy termination method with 370A DNA sequencer (Applied Biosystems, USA) according to appended protocols. The M13 sequencing primers, universal and reverse primers (New England Biolabs, USA) were used for the first sequencing. Based on the DNA sequence determined by the first sequence analysis, the following primers were synthesized and used for further DNA sequence analyses. The synthesized primers used were as follows(SEQ ID NO: 11-15).

Primer 1 (12 mer): 5'>CTG TGT TCT CGC <3'

Primer 2 (15 mer): 5'>TCG GTT TCG CGA AGA <3'

Primer 3 (16 mer): 5'>CGT CTT CAA CGG AAC G <3'

Primer 4 (16 mer): 5'>GGA GTG ACG TCC GTT C <3'

Primer 5 (16 mer): 5'>GAG ATG TTC TCC CAG C <3'

As a result of the analysis, an open reading frame (ORF) consisting of 1596 base pairs was found. The amino acid sequence encoded by the nucleotide sequence beginning from the initiation codon (ATG) of the ORF coincided with the amino acid sequence of SDH which was obtained in Example 2, and the theoretical molecular weight of the protein encoded by the ORF, of 58 kd coincided well with the apparent molecular weight of SDH, 58 kd by SDS-PAGE. Therefore, the ORF was determined to be the SDH gene.

The nucleotide sequence of the SDH gene is shown in the Sequence Listing, Sequence No. 3 to be mentioned later, and the amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence is shown in Sequence No. 1.

EXAMPLE 6 Expression of SDH Gene in E. coli

(1) Cultivation of the Transformed (transfected) E. coli

A single colony of E. coli JM109 transformed with pUC19SD5 (E. coli JM109-pUC19SD5) was inoculated into 100 ml of a medium containing 1% Bactotrypton (Difco Labs., USA), 0.5% yeast extract, 0.5% sodium chloride and 0.1% glucose (pH 7.2) in a 500 ml flask and cultivated at 30° C. for 18 hours. A portion of the cultured broth (3 ml of each) was transferred to two media containing 1% Bactotrypton, 0.5% yeast extract, 0.5% sodium chloride, 1% glycerol, 0.3% KH₂ PO₄, 0.8% Na₂ PO₄ ·12H₂ O (pH 6.8), 1% L-sorbose and 100 μg/ml of ampicillin in a 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask. The resultant mixtures were cultivated at 25° C. for 3 days. The cultured broth (total 200 ml) was harvested by centrifugation at 6,000 rpm at 4° C. for 10 minutes. The cells were washed twice with saline, suspended in 5 ml of the same solution, and disrupted by sonication at 30 second intervals for a total sonication time of 2 minutes under ice-cooling. The resultant cell lysate was stored at -20° C. until use for an enzyme assay.

(2) Assay of SDH Activity

SDH expressed activity was assayed by determining the amount of the reaction product, L-sorbosone, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The reaction mixture consisting of 1% L-sorbose, 1 mM phenazine methosulfate, 0.1M phosphate buffer (pH 8.0) and the sonicated cell lysate was incubated at 30° C. with shaking for 5 hours. The reaction was stopped by adjusting pH to 2 with 6N sulfuric acid. The reaction mixture was centrifuged at 6,000 rpm at 4° C. for 10 minutes and a portion of the supernatant was directly analyzed by HPLC with a #3011N column (4.6 mm inner diameter×300 mm, Hitachi, Japan). The mobile phase was 1M borate buffer (pH 9.5) containing 0.02M benzamidine hydrochloride and 0.25M potassium sulfate which were used for a post column labelling method, at a flow rate of 0.8 ml per minute. The post column labelling reaction was performed at 80° C. in a Tefron tube (0.5 mm inner diameter×10 m). Detection of the labelled compound was carried out by monitoring fluorescence (Ex. 315 nm, Em. 405 nm). As shown in the following Table 3, the sonicated cells containing plasmid pUC19SD5 had an ability to convert L-sorbose to L-sorbosone. However, no activity was found in the cell lysate treated at 100° C. or the cells without the plasmid. These results indicate that the recombinant plasmid pUC19SD5 contains the gene encoding L-sorbose dehydrogenase, which expressed in E. coli JM109.

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                                                     L-sorbosone                                        Strain         Treatment    (μg/ml)                                         ______________________________________                                         JM109 (pUC19SD5)                                                                              Sonication   2,310                                              JM109 (pUC19SD5)                                                                              Sonication, boiling                                                                         24                                                 JM109          Sonication   21                                                 Basal          --           33                                                 ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 7 Purification of SNDH from Gluconobacter oxydans T-100

(1) Preparation of Crude Enzyme Solution

The cells (ca. 10 g, wet weight) obtained in Example 1 (2) were suspended in 40 ml of 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) under ice-cooling, disrupted by sonication, and centrifuged at 8,000 rpm at 4° C. for 10 min. The supernatant was ultracentrifuged at 32,000 rpm at 4° C. for one hour. The resulting supernatant was used for further determinations as an SNDH crude enzyme solution.

(2) Ion-exchange Chromatography

The SNDH crude enzyme solution (45 ml) was passed through QAE-TOYOPEARL 550 C column (1.6 cm inner diameter×30 cm, Toso Co. Ltd., Japan) previously equilibrated with 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). The column was washed with the same buffer and eluted with a linear gradient of sodium chloride of from 0M to 0.4M in the same buffer. The activity of the enzyme was assayed by the method by SUGISAWA et al. (Agric. Biol. Chem., 55, 665-670, 1991), by measuring the amount of NADH produced by the reaction in the presence of 13.7 μM L-sorbosone and 0.73 μM NAD in 50 mM phosphate buffer, which was determined by the absorbance at 340 nm. The active fractions (ca. 15 ml) were pooled and diluted 5-fold with phosphate buffer for use in the purification step to follow.

(3) Blue Sepharose Chromatography

The enzyme solution (ca. 75 ml) obtained in (2) was passed through Blue Sepharose column (1.0 cm inner diameter×7 cm, Pharmacia, Sweden) previously equilibrated with phosphate buffer. The column was washed with the same buffer and eluted with a linear gradient of sodium chloride of from 0M to 0.6M in the same buffer. The respective fractions were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS-PAGE) and by enzyme assay of Example 7 (2). As a result, it was found that the protein having a molecular weight of 50 kd by SDS-PAGE corresponded to the enzyme activity, suggesting that said 50 kd protein was the desired SNDH molecule.

EXAMPLE 8 SNDH Amino Acid Sequence Analysis

The active fraction (75 μl) obtained in Example 7 (3) was subjected to SDS-PAGE and the separated protein was blotted on a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane. The membrane containing 50 kd protein stained by Coomassie Brilliant Blue was cut out and washed with distilled water. The membrane piece was sequenced with an automated protein sequencer Model 470A (Applied Biosystems Inc., USA) for N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis. The results are shown below wherein Xaa is an unidentified amino acid.

N-terminal amino acid sequence(SEQ ID NO: 6).

Asn-Val-Val-Ser-Lys-Thr-Val-Xaa-Leu-

EXAMPLE 9 DNA Sequence Analysis of SDNH Gene

(1) Construction of Plasmid for DNA Sequence Analysis

The plasmid pUC19SD5 (FIG. 2) obtained in Example 4 (3) was digested with SalI (Nippon Gene, Japan) and EcoRV (Toyobo, Japan) and subjected to 0.8% agarose gel electrophoresis. Of the separated DNA fragments, the fragments of about 600 bp and 4,300 bp were separated from the gel. The former was inserted into SmaI site of pUC18 to construct pSD6RRV. The latter was filled with DNA polymerase Klenow fragment (Takara Shuzo, Japan) to give a blunt-ended SalI cleavage site, followed by self-ligation to construct circular plasmid pSD5RIRV. This plasmid pSD5RIRV was digested with EcoRI and MluI, and about 3,400 bp fragment was isolated. Blunting and circularizing in the same manner as above gave pSD5MRV.

(2) DNA Sequence Analysis

DNA sequence analyses of the template DNA (pSD5MRV, pSD6RRV and pSD5RRV used for SDH nucleotide sequence analysis) were performed by dideoxy termination method with 370A DNA sequencer (Applied Biosystems, USA). The M13 sequencing primers, universal and reverse primers (New England Biolabs, USA) were used for the first sequencing. Based on the DNA sequences determined by the first sequencing, the following primers were synthesized and used for further DNA sequence analyses. The synthesized primers used were as follows(SEQ ID NO: 16-22).

Primer 1 (15 mer); 5'>TGATGGAGAATGGCG <3'

Primer 2 (15 mer); 5'>GTAATCAGACCGACG <3'

Primer 3 (15 mer); 5'>TTCATTCTCGCATCC <3'

Primer 4 (15 mer); 5'>GATCTCACCTTTCGC <3'

Primer 5 (15 mer); 5'>CACGGATGTGAAGCC <3'

Primer 6 (15 mer); 5'>GATCCTGTGTGAGCG <3'

Primer 7 (15 mer); 5'>GCGATGTCATCACGG <3'

As the result of the above analyses, an open reading frame (ORF) consisting of 1497 bp was found in the upstream of 5'-side of SDH gene. The amino acid sequence encoded by the nucleotide sequence beginning from the initiation codon (ATG) of the ORF coincided with the N-terminal amino acid sequence of SNDH which was obtained in Example 8, and the theoretical molecular weight of the protein encoded by the ORF, of 53 kd coincided well with the molecular weight of SNDH, 50 kd by SDS-PAGE. Therefore, the ORF was considered to be the SNDH gene. The nucleotide sequence of the SNDH gene is shown in the Sequence Listing, Sequence No. 4 to be mentioned later, and the amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence is shown in Sequence No. 2.

EXAMPLE 10 Expression of SNDH Gene in E. coli

(1) Cultivation of the Transformed E. coli

In the same manner as in Example 6, cell lysate of E. coli JM109-pUC19SD5 was obtained and stored at -20° C. until use for an enzyme assay.

(2) Assay of SNDH Activity

SNDH expressed activity was assayed by determining the amount of the reaction product, 2KLGA, using HPLC. The reaction mixture consisting of 1% L-sorbosone, 0.5 mM NAD, 0.1M phosphate buffer (pH 8.0) and the sonicated cell lysate was incubated at 30° C. with shaking for 5 hours. The reaction was stopped by adjusting pH to 2 with 6N sulfuric acid. The reaction mixture was centrifuged at 6,000 rpm at 4° C. for 10 min, and a portion of the supernatant was analyzed by HPLC (column Capcellpak NH₂ ; 4.6 mm inner diameter×250 mm, Shiseido, Japan). The mobile phase was 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 3.0) containing 30% acetonitrile at a flow rate of 1.2 ml per minute. Detection was carried out by measuring ultraviolet absorption at 210 nm.

As a result, the mixture containing the sonicated cell lysate of E. coli JM109-pUC19SD5 transformed with the plasmid pUC19SD5 produced 5690 μg/ml of 2KLGA, demonstrating the ability to convert L-sorbosone to 2KLGA. While the host of the transformant, E. coli JM109 itself had an ability to convert same into 2KLGA, its ability was about one-second (2170 μg/ml) of the ability possessed by the transformant, thus suggesting evident enhancement of the ability of the transformant to convert same into 2KLGA, that is, SNDH activity. Therefrom it was made clear that the recombinant plasmid pUC19SD5 had a gene encoding SNDH, and the ORF consisting of 1497 bp at the upstream of 5'-side of the SDH gene found in Example 9 was an SNDH gene.

Industrial Applicability

The SDH and SNDH of the present invention are useful enzymes having preferable properties in the production of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid, as well as L-ascorbic acid. According to the production method of the present invention, the SDH and SNDH having such preferable properties can be produced in large amounts by genetic engineering.

Deposit of Microorganism

The cell strain used in the present invention, Gluconobacter oxydans T-100 (deposit number FERM BP-4188) has been deposited at National Institute of Bioscience and Human-Technology, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, since Feb. 15, 1993.

    __________________________________________________________________________     SEQUENCE LISTING                                                               (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:                                                       (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 22                                                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 1:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 530 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                          (A) ORGANISM: Gluconobacter oxydans                                            (B) STRAIN: T-100                                                              (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: mat peptide                                                      (B) LOCATION: 1..530                                                           (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: experimentally                                      (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 1:                                       ThrSerGlyPheAspTyrIleValValGlyGlyGlySerAlaGly                                  151015                                                                         CysValLeuAlaAlaArgLeuSerGluAsnProSerValArgVal                                  202530                                                                         CysLeuIleGluAlaGlyArgArgAspThrHisProLeuIleHis                                  354045                                                                         MetProValGlyPheAlaLysMetThrThrGlyProHisThrTrp                                  505560                                                                         AspLeuLeuThrGluProGlnLysHisAlaAsnAsnArgGlnIle                                  657075                                                                         ProTyrValGlnGlyArgIleLeuGlyGlyGlySerSerIleAsn                                  808590                                                                         AlaGluValPheThrArgGlyHisProSerAspPheAspArgTrp                                  95100105                                                                       AlaAlaGluGlyAlaAspGlyTrpSerPheArgAspValGlnLys                                  110115120                                                                      TyrPheIleArgSerGluGlyAsnAlaValPheSerGlyThrTrp                                  125130135                                                                      HisGlyThrAsnGlyProLeuGlyValSerAsnLeuAlaGluPro                                  140145150                                                                      AsnProThrSerArgAlaPheValGlnSerCysGlnGluMetGly                                  155160165                                                                      LeuProTyrAsnProAspPheAsnGlyAlaSerGlnGluGlyAla                                  170175180                                                                      GlyIleTyrGlnMetThrIleArgAsnAsnArgArgCysSerThr                                  185190195                                                                      AlaValGlyTyrLeuArgProAlaLeuGlyArgLysAsnLeuThr                                  200205210                                                                      ValValThrArgAlaLeuValLeuLysIleValPheAsnGlyThr                                  215220225                                                                      ArgAlaThrGlyValGlnTyrIleAlaAsnGlyThrLeuAsnThr                                  230235240                                                                      AlaGluAlaSerGlnGluIleValValThrAlaGlyAlaIleGly                                  245250255                                                                      ThrProLysLeuMetMetLeuSerGlyValGlyProAlaAlaHis                                  260265270                                                                      LeuArgGluAsnGlyIleProValValGlnAspLeuProGlyVal                                  275280285                                                                      GlyGluAsnLeuGlnAspHisPheGlyValAspIleValAlaGlu                                  290295300                                                                      LeuLysThrAspGluSerPheAspLysTyrArgLysLeuHisTrp                                  305310315                                                                      MetLeuTrpAlaGlyLeuGluTyrThrMetPheArgSerGlyPro                                  320325330                                                                      ValAlaSerAsnValValGluGlyGlyAlaPheTrpTyrSerAsp                                  335340345                                                                      ProSerSerGlyValProAspLeuGlnPheHisPheLeuAlaGlu                                  350355360                                                                      AlaGlyAlaGluAlaGlyValThrSerValProLysGlyAlaSer                                  365370375                                                                      GlyIleThrLeuAsnSerTyrValLeuArgProLysSerArgGly                                  380385390                                                                      ThrValArgLeuArgSerAlaAspProArgValAsnProMetVal                                  395400405                                                                      AspProAsnPheLeuGlyAspProAlaAspLeuGluThrSerAla                                  410415420                                                                      GluGlyValArgLeuSerTyrGluMetPheSerGlnProSerLeu                                  425430435                                                                      GluLysHisIleArgLysThrCysPhePheSerGlyLysGlnPro                                  440445450                                                                      ThrMetGlnMetTyrArgAspTyrAlaArgGluHisGlyArgThr                                  455460465                                                                      SerTyrHisProThrCysThrCysLysMetGlyArgAspAspMet                                  470475480                                                                      SerValValAspProArgLeuLysValHisGlyLeuGluGlyIle                                  485490495                                                                      ArgIleCysAspSerSerValMetProSerLeuLeuGlySerAsn                                  500505510                                                                      ThrAsnAlaAlaThrIleMetIleSerGluArgAlaAlaAspPhe                                  515520525                                                                      IleGlnGlyAsnAla                                                                530                                                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 2:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 497 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                          (A) ORGANISM: Gluconobacter oxydans                                            (B) STRAIN: T-100                                                              (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: mat peptide                                                      (B) LOCATION: 1..497                                                           (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: experimentally                                      (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 2:                                       AsnValValSerLysThrValSerLeuProLeuLysProArgGlu                                  151015                                                                         PheGlyPhePheIleAspGlyGluTrpArgAlaGlyLysAspPhe                                  202530                                                                         PheAspArgSerSerProAlaHisAspValProValThrArgIle                                  354045                                                                         ProArgCysThrArgGluAspLeuAspGluAlaValAlaAlaAla                                  505560                                                                         ArgArgAlaPheGluAsnGlySerTrpAlaGlyLeuAlaAlaAla                                  657075                                                                         AspArgAlaAlaValLeuLeuLysAlaAlaGlyLeuLeuArgGlu                                  808590                                                                         ArgArgAspAspIleAlaTyrTrpGluValLeuGluAsnGlyLys                                  95100105                                                                       ProIleSerGlnAlaLysGlyGluIleAspHisCysIleAlaCys                                  110115120                                                                      PheGluMetAlaAlaGlyAlaAlaArgMetLeuHisGlyAspThr                                  125130135                                                                      PheAsnAsnLeuGlyGluGlyLeuPheGlyMetValLeuArgGlu                                  140145150                                                                      ProIleGlyValValGlyLeuIleThrProTrpAsnPheProPhe                                  155160165                                                                      MetIleLeuCysGluArgAlaProPheIleLeuAlaSerGlyCys                                  170175180                                                                      ThrLeuValValLysProAlaGluValThrSerAlaThrThrLeu                                  185190195                                                                      LeuLeuAlaGluIleLeuAlaAspAlaGlyLeuProLysGlyVal                                  200205210                                                                      PheAsnValValThrGlyThrGlyArgThrValGlyGlnAlaMet                                  215220225                                                                      ThrGluHisGlnAspIleAspMetLeuSerPheThrGlySerThr                                  230235240                                                                      GlyValGlyLysSerCysIleHisAlaAlaAlaAspSerAsnLeu                                  245250255                                                                      LysLysLeuGlyLeuGluLeuGlyGlyLysAsnProIleValVal                                  260265270                                                                      PheAlaAspSerAsnLeuGluAspAlaAlaAspAlaValAlaPhe                                  275280285                                                                      GlyIleSerPheAsnThrGlyGlnCysCysValSerSerSerArg                                  290295300                                                                      LeuIleValGluArgSerValAlaGluLysPheGluArgLeuVal                                  305310315                                                                      ValProLysMetGluLysIleArgValGlyAspProPheAspPro                                  320325330                                                                      GluThrGlnIleGlyAlaIleThrThrGluAlaGlnAsnLysThr                                  335340345                                                                      IleLeuAspTyrIleAlaLysGlyLysAlaGluGlyAlaLysLeu                                  350355360                                                                      LeuCysGlyGlyGlyIleValAspPheGlyLysGlyGlnTyrIle                                  365370375                                                                      GlnProThrLeuPheThrAspValLysProSerMetGlyIleAla                                  380385390                                                                      ArgAspGluIlePheGlyProValLeuAlaSerPheHisPheAsp                                  395400405                                                                      ThrValAspGluAlaIleAlaIleAlaAsnAspThrValTyrGly                                  410415420                                                                      LeuAlaAlaSerValTrpSerLysAspIleAspLysAlaLeuAla                                  425430435                                                                      ValThrArgArgValArgAlaGlyArgPheTrpValAsnThrIle                                  440445450                                                                      MetSerGlyGlyProGluThrProLeuGlyGlyPheLysGlnSer                                  455460465                                                                      GlyTrpGlyArgGluAlaGlyLeuTyrGlyValGluGluTyrThr                                  470475480                                                                      GlnIleLysSerValHisIleGluThrGlyLysArgSerHisTrp                                  485490495                                                                      IleSer                                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 3:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 1596 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: double                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                              (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                          (A) ORGANISM: Gluconobacter oxydans                                            (B) STRAIN: T-100                                                              (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 4..1593                                                          (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: experimentally                                      (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 3:                                       ATGACGAGCGGTTTTGATTACATCGTTGTCGGTGGCGGTTCGGCTGGCTGTGTTCTCGCA60                 GCCCGCCTTTCCGAAAATCCTTCCGTCCGTGTCTGTCTCATCGAGGCGGGCCGGCGGGAC120                ACGCATCCCCTGATCCACATGCCGGTCGGTTTCGCGAAGATGACCACGGGGCCGCATACC180                TGGGATCTTCTGACGGAGCCGCAGAAACATGCGAACAACCGCCAGATCCCCTATGTGCAG240                GGCCGGATTCTGGGCGGCGGATCGTCCATCAACGCGGAAGTCTTCACGCGGGGACACCCT300                TCCGACTTCGACCGCTGGGCGGCGGAAGGTGCGGATGGCTGGAGCTTCCGGGATGTCCAG360                AAGTACTTCATCCGTTCCGAAGGCAATGCCGTGTTTTCGGGCACCTGGCATGGCACGAAC420                GGGCCGCTCGGGGTGTCCAACCTCGCGGAGCCGAACCCGACCAGCCGTGCCTTCGTGCAG480                AGCTGTCAGGAAATGGGGCTGCCCTACAACCCTGACTTCAACGGCGCATCGCAGGAAGGC540                GCAGGCATCTATCAGATGACGATCCGCAACAACCGGCGCTGCTCGACGGCTGTGGGGTAT600                CTGCGTCCGGCTCTGGGGCGGAAGAACCTGACGGTTGTGACGCGGGCGCTGGTCCTGAAG660                ATCGTCTTCAACGGAACGCGGGCGACGGGCGTGCAGTATATCGCCAACGGCACCCTGAAT720                ACCGCCGAAGCGAGCCAGGAAATCGTTGTGACGGCCGGAGCGATCGGAACGCCGAAGCTG780                ATGATGCTGTCGGGCGTCGGGCCTGCCGCGCATCTTCGCGAAAATGGTATCCCGGTCGTG840                CAGGATCTGCCGGGCGTGGGCGAGAACCTTCAGGATCATTTCGGTGTGGATATCGTAGCC900                GAGCTCAAGACGGATGAGAGCTTCGACAAGTACCGGAAACTGCACTGGATGCTGTGGGCA960                GGTCTTGAATATACCATGTTCAGATCCGGTCCCGTTGCATCCAACGTGGTTGAGGGCGGC1020               GCGTTCTGGTACTCGGACCCGTCATCGGGTGTTCCTGATCTCCAGTTCCATTTTCTTGCG1080               GAGGCTGGGGCTGAGGCTGGAGTGACGTCCGTTCCCAAGGGAGCGTCCGGGATTACGCTG1140               AACAGCTATGTGCTGCGTCCGAAGTCTCGTGGAACTGTCCGGCTGCGTTCGGCAGATCCA1200               AGGGTCAATCCGATGGTCGATCCCAATTTCCTTGGAGACCCGGCCGACCTTGAGACGTCT1260               GCGGAAGGTGTGCGCCTGAGCTACGAGATGTTCTCCCAGCCGTCTTTGGAGAAGCACATC1320               CGGAAAACCTGTTTCTTTAGCGGTAAACAGCCGACGATGCAGATGTATCGGGACTATGCG1380               CGGGAACATGGCCGGACGTCCTATCATCCGACATGCACCTGCAAGATGGGTCGTGATGAC1440               ATGTCCGTCGTCGATCCGCGTCTGAAGGTTCATGGCCTTGAGGGCATCAGGATCTGTGAC1500               AGTTCGGTTATGCCGTCGCTGCTCGGTTCCAACACCAATGCTGCGACGATCATGATCAGT1560               GAGCGGGCAGCGGATTTCATTCAGGGGAACGCCTGA1596                                       (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 4:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 1497 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: double                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                              (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                          (A) ORGANISM: Gluconobacter oxydans                                            (B) STRAIN: T-100                                                              (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 4..1494                                                          (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: experimentally                                      (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 4:                                       ATGAATGTTGTCTCAAAGACTGTATCTTTACCGTTAAAGCCGCGTGAGTTCGGATTCTTT60                 ATTGATGGAGAATGGCGCGCAGGTAAGGATTTCTTCGATCGTTCCTCGCCGGCTCATGAT120                GTTCCCGTCACCCGTATTCCACGCTGCACCCGTGAAGACCTTGATGAGGCAGTCGCTGCT180                GCACGTCGTGCTTTCGAGAACGGAAGCTGGGCGGGTCTGGCAGCCGCGGATCGTGCGGCG240                GTTCTTCTGAAAGCCGCGGGCCTTCTGCGCGAGCGCCGTGATGACATCGCTTACTGGGAA300                GTTCTCGAAAACGGGAAGCCCATCAGCCAGGCGAAAGGTGAGATCGATCACTGTATCGCC360                TGTTTCGAGATGGCGGCCGGCGCTGCGCGGATGCTGCATGGTGATACGTTCAACAATCTG420                GGCGAGGGGCTGTTTGGCATGGTCCTGCGGGAGCCCATCGGTGTCGTCGGTCTGATTACG480                CCGTGGAACTTCCCGTTCATGATCCTGTGTGAGCGGGCGCCTTTCATTCTCGCATCCGGC540                TGCACGCTGGTCGTCAAGCCTGCCGAAGTCACGAGTGCCACGACCCTTCTTCTGGCAGAA600                ATCCTTGCCGATGCCGGGCTGCCGAAGGGTGTCTTCAATGTCGTGACAGGCACGGGGCGC660                ACGGTCGGTCAGGCCATGACCGAGCATCAGGATATCGACATGCTGTCCTTCACGGGCTCC720                ACGGGCGTCGGCAAGTCCTGTATCCACGCGGCGGCTGACAGCAACCTGAAGAAACTTGGC780                CTCGAACTGGGCGGCAAGAACCCGATTGTCGTGTTCGCTGACAGCAACCTTGAGGATGCG840                GCCGACGCGGTAGCCTTCGGGATCAGCTTTAATACCGGGCAGTGCTGTGTGTCGTCGAGC900                CGCCTGATCGTAGAGCGGTCCGTGGCGGAGAAGTTCGAGCGCCTCGTCGTGCCAAAAATG960                GAGAAGATCCGCGTTGGTGATCCGTTTGATCCCGAAACGCAGATTGGCGCCATCACGACG1020               GAAGCGCAGAACAAGACCATTCTGGACTATATCGCGAAAGGCAAGGCCGAGGGCGCCAAG1080               CTGCTCTGTGGTGGCGGGATCGTCGATTTCGGCAAGGGACAGTATATCCAGCCCACGCTT1140               TTCACGGATGTGAAGCCCTCGATGGGCATCGCGCGTGACGAGATTTTTGGGCCGGTTCTG1200               GCGTCCTTCCACTTCGATACCGTCGATGAGGCGATCGCGATTGCCAATGACACGGTTTAC1260               GGCTTGGCCGCATCGGTCTGGAGCAAGGATATCGACAAGGCGCTTGCCGTGACCCGTCGT1320               GTTCGTGCCGGCCGCTTCTGGGTGAACACCATCATGAGCGGTGGTCCCGAGACGCCGCTG1380               GGTGGTTTCAAGCAGTCGGGCTGGGGCCGTGAGGCCGGTCTGTACGGCGTTGAGGAATAT1440               ACGCAGATCAAATCTGTCCATATCGAAACTGGCAAACGTTCGCACTGGATTTCGTAA1497                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 5:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 14 amino acids                                                     (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 5:                                       ThrSerGlyPheAspTyrIleValValGlyGlyGlySerAla                                     1510                                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 6:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 9 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 6:                                       AsnValValSerLysThrValXaaLeu                                                    15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 7:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 16 amino acids                                                     (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 7:                                       MetThrThrGlyProHisThrTrpAspLeuLeuThrGluProGlnLys                               151015                                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 8:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 10 amino acids                                                     (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 8:                                       LeuMetMetLeuSerGlyValGlyProAla                                                 1510                                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 9:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 23 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 9:                                       ACCWSCGGCTTYGAYTAYATHGT23                                                      (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 10:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 10:                                      TCCCANGTRTGNGGNCC17                                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 11:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 12 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 11:                                      CTGTGTTCTCGC12                                                                 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 12:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 12:                                      TCGGTTTCGCGAAGA15                                                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 13:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 16 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 13:                                      CGTCTTCAACGGAACG16                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 14:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 16 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 14:                                      GGAGTGACGTCCGTTC16                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 15:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 16 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 15:                                      GAGATGTTCTCCCAGC16                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 16:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 16:                                      TGATGGAGAATGGCG15                                                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 17:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 17:                                      GTAATCAGACCGACG15                                                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 18:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 18:                                      TTCATTCTCGCATCC15                                                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 19:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 19:                                      GATCTCACCTTTCGC15                                                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 20:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 20:                                      CACGGATGTGAAGCC15                                                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 21:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 21:                                      GATCCTGTGTGAGCG15                                                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 22:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: other nucleic acid (synthetic DNA)                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 22:                                      GCGATGTCATCACGG15                                                              __________________________________________________________________________ 

What is claimed is:
 1. A DNA having the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 and encoding an L-sorbose dehydrogenase derived from Gluconobacter oxydans T-100, which is characterized by:(1) an ability to catalyze the conversion of L-sorbose into L-sorbosone, (2) a molecular weight of 58,000 dalton (SDS-PAGE, and (3) an N-terminal amino acid sequence ofThr-Ser-Gly-Phe-Asp-Tyr-Ile-Val-Val-Gly-Gly-Gly-Ser-Ala-(SEQ ID NO: 5).
 2. A DNA having the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 and encoding an L-sorbosone dehydrogenase derived from Gluconobacter oxydans T-100, which is characterized by:(1) an ability to catalyze the conversion of L-sorbosone into 2-keto-L-gulonic acid, (2) a molecular weight of 50,000 dalton (SDS-PAGE), and (3) an N-terminal amino acid sequence ofAsn-Val-Val-Ser-Lys-Thr-Val-Xaa-Leu (SEO ID NO: 6, Xaa being an unidentified amino acid).
 3. An expression vector comprising at least one DNA as claimed in claim
 1. 4. A host cell transformed (transfected) by the expression vector of claim
 3. 5. The host cell of claim 4, which is Escherichia coli.
 6. A method for producing an L-sorbose dehydrogenase, which comprises culturing the host cell of claim 4 in a medium and recovering the L-sorbose dehydrogenase from the resulting culture.
 7. An expression vector comprising at least one DNA as claimed in claim
 2. 8. A host cell transformed or transfected by the expression vector of claim
 7. 9. The host cell of claim 8, which is Escherichia coli.
 10. A method of producing an L-sorbosone dehydrogenase, which comprises culturing the host cell of claim 8 in a medium and recovering the L-sorbosone dehydrogenase from the resulting culture. 